The present invention generally relates to anonymous digital identification. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing personalized digital content and consumer information using anonymous digital identification.
Parties communicate in a variety of ways: face-to-face, over the telephone, and by electronic mail, just to name a few. Despite the many ways in which people and businesses are able to communicate, however, innumerable opportunities for valuable communication are missed every day. For example, an unemployed mechanical engineer in search of a job may ride the same bus every morning as a human resources director for a local engineering firm who is searching for qualified applicants. While their physical paths may cross, they may never communicate with one another simply because they are unaware of their shared personal interests. If each somehow knew what the other was interested in or looking for, they would likely begin communicating and potentially form a mutually beneficial relationship.
Missed connections and overlooked opportunities for communication also occur between businesses and consumers. Research service estimates from 2007 indicate that advertising and marketing expenditures average well over 400 billion each year in the United States alone. Much of these valuable advertising dollars are allocated to blanketed and minimally targeted advertising, but these techniques are still tremendously inefficient in terms of the number of sales versus the number of targets and advertisements. This inefficiency stems from businesses' inability to closely match advertising content with the interests and wants of prospective consumers. Although minimally targeted advertising may, in many cases, be more effective than simply blanketing the general public, the rate of return on targeted advertising is still often quite low. However, if a business could target its advertisements to those potential customers who (1) have already expressed an interest in the item being advertised, and (2) are located physically near the storefront carrying the desired item, then such advertisement is likely to be significantly more effective than other techniques. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may allow a business to understand its customer more thoroughly by providing in-depth, real-time information related to the buying habits, interests, activities, demographics, and most importantly, the desired purchases of existing and potential customers.
Prior art systems have attempted to use location detection technologies to promote social networking but present significant shortcomings. For example, the invention described in U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2005/0250552, filed by Eagle et al. (Eagle), utilizes Bluetooth technology to facilitate communication between Bluetooth-enabled devices in detectable range of one another, particularly for purposes of developing interpersonal relationships. The invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,842, issued to Brady, Jr. (Brady), utilizes Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates to identify people, places, and things based on a user's stated preferences. However, neither Eagle nor Brady discloses a multi-modal system for anonymous digital identification that facilitates widespread adoption and cross-platform usage. Moreover, neither Eagle nor Brady discloses the customization of advertising content for purposes of improving customer experience and increasing advertisement effectiveness. Neither discloses a system that allows consumers to communicate their purchasing desires to merchants and facilitates commercial transactions between buyers and sellers. Additionally, neither utilizes a multi-modal anonymous identification system for purposes of gathering, analyzing, and selling to businesses a wide range of consumer data.
Other prior art systems provide anonymous digital identification or distributed electronic commerce, but these systems also present shortcomings. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,567, issued to Gregory (Gregory), is directed to distributed electronic commerce over a network, in which merchant content is separated from transaction functionality. The invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,879,960, issued to Nascenzi et al. (Nascenzi), utilizes anonymous identification tags in the context of electronic commerce. However, neither Gregory nor Nascenzi discloses, for example, the use of location detection technologies in order to facilitate targeted commercial transactions between commercial entities and customers. Moreover, neither discloses a multi-modal anonymous identification system, particularly one capable of compiling and processing consumer data for commercial entities.